Presentation on the Major and Minor Themes of Bapsi Sidhwa’s novel, Ice-Candy Man

The AuthorBapsi Sidhwa, the author of the novel was born on August

11th, 1938 in Karachi. She belongs to the Parsi community, so her account of the

partition is thought to be objective and neutral.She, like the child narrator of Ice Candy Man, Lenny, is a

polio victim, that is why she was educated at home till the age of 15. Afterwards she graduated from Kinnaird College, Lahore.

She was married at the age of 19. Sidhwa started writing in the 1970s when she was inspired

by the story of a young girl who ran away from home and was killed by her husband in the Hindukush mountains. This story was published in the form of her 2nd novel: the Bride.

Some of the notable novels of Sidhwa are: the Crow Eaters, The Pakistani Bride, Ice Candy Man, An American Brat, & Water.

About Bapsi SidhwaSidhwa’s work has been widely read and appreciated.

Numerous awards have been conferred upon her, these include:

The Patras Bokhari award for the Bride in 1985The Sitara-e-Imtiaz in 1991The German Literaturepreis award for Cracking IndiaA Bunting Fellowship from HarvardCurrently she is teaching at the University of Texas,

Houston.Her most famous novel Ice Candy Man has been

turnrd into a film called ‘Earth 1947’

Ice Candy ManIce Candy Man, Sidhwa’s third and most famous

novel, was published in 1988.The dominant themes of the novel are the themes

of disintegration, dislocation, and partition. The sensitive topic of the Partition of the

Subcontinent serves as the backdrop of the novel. This partition is one of the greatest tragedies of our times, the severity of which has never been fully understood.

Through Ice-Candy Man Sidhwa tries to present an objective view of this event and aims at providing an understanding of the event, the circumstances that led to the partition, and the effects of the division of India on the lives of the common people.

Overview Sidhwa’s keen observation, concern for the common man & his life, and

concern for women and their suppression run though her novel: ICM. In order to understand the theme/s of the novel it is important to take an

overview of the novel: It is a historical novel written from the viewpoint of an eight year old girl,

Lenny, who happens to be a polio victim. The novel records the neutral observations of Lenny of the world around

her and how a political event overshadows her world, causing disintegration and fragmentation.

Lenny sees Muslims, Hindus, Christians, Parsees & Sikhs fight for their land and their lives and is an unwilling witness to the trauma that accompanied Independence.

Ayah, Lenny’s beautiful and desirable maid, bears the crux of the Partition tale becoming, like many others, the victim of her religion.

The story traces the communal discord that occurred at the time of Independence. It highlights that external events can unleash animalistic characteristics in humans, so much so, that they are blinded by prejudice and selfishness and use religion to justify their beastly actions.

It is a story about love lost, trust deceived and the subjugation of the mind by deliberately subjugating the body. It is also a story about manipulation, redemption, and shrugging off passivity and rising to help those who most need it.

Major & Minor ThemesMajor Themes:Theme of PartitionTheme of dislocation and disintegrationTheme of Communal discordDilemma of the Parsi communityTheme of Feminism–women as victims & as savioursConstancy of desire & its lack of moral legitimacyThe eternal conflict of moral good & evil in the human psycheNeutrality

Minor themes:Manipulation Intolerance ImpassivityDuplicity of colonialismChaos and confusion

Exploring the Leading ThemesTheme of Partition:The novel examines the inexorable logic of Partition as an offshoot

of fundamentalism sparked by hardening communal attitudes. It looks at Partition as a means of spreading disharmony which resulted in frenzy and chaos.

The novel, written from a domestic standpoint, opens with the child narrator observing the situation of Lahore at the time of Partition.

Her dreams signify the fragmentation of India when she says “ I recall another childhood nightmare… Children lie in a warehouse… Godmother sits by my bed smiling indulgently as men in uniforms quietly slice off a child’s arm here, a leg there”. This dream comes true when in chapter 17 Sidhwa writes “ Playing British gods under the ceiling fans of the Falettis Hotel ,the Radcliff commission deals out Indian cities like a pack of cards. Lahore is dealt to Pakistan, Amritsar to India. Sialkot to Pakistan. Pathankot to India. I am a Pakistani. In a snap. Just like that. A new nation is born. India has been divided after all.”

Theme of PartitionSidhwa shows us that the Partition leaves even

sane people & friends helpless and ineffective.e.g the sikhs and muslims living in Pir Pindo, helplessness of the Hindu and Sikh friends of the Sethis, and change of religion.

The psychological effects of the Partition on the lives of people is also shown in great detail in this novel. e.g Lenny tears her doll in two halves after actually witnessing a similar event, the wails of the fallen women

Sidhwa shows human loss in Partition: “ wave upon wave of muslim refugees flood Lahore– and the Punjab west of Lahore. Within 3 months 7 million Muslims & 5 million Hindus & Sikhs are uprooted in the most terrible exchange of population known to history. Punjab has been divided’.

Dislocation Dislocation and disruption are very important themes of ICM.We see people weighing the options of staying or migrating. The

question of migration loomed large in almost everyone’s head.We see the people of Pir Pindo negating the idea of going by

saying: Where can the Muslim villagers go?... How can they abandon their ancestor’s graves, every inch of land they own, their other kin? How will they ever hold up their heads again? Where will they go? No, he says, they cannot throw the Mussulmans out

Almost all the people of India especially the Punjabis were faced with such dilemmas. Above all, the people, especially the Punjabis, were not expecting to be uprooted and dislocated. Perhaps this is another reason why so many of them died because people could not comprehend the severity of the situation. I

I think that nobody can think of any place safer than home, and when suddenly you are told that this isn’t your home, people cannot overcome the shock and pain of being uprooted and dislocated.

Disintegration In the novel the disintegration of Ayah’s circle symbolises the

disintegration and degeneration of society and the disintegration of society signifies the deterioration of the characters/ people themselves.

Members of the Ayah’s circle represent the different religions of the Subcontinent.

We see that the characters belonging to the various communities of India become conscious of their individual identity but at the cost of the composite culture that evolved after centuries.

As the novel progressed, the people who thronged Queen’s park became aware of their religious identity and only sat with people of their own religion. It is only Ayah’s circle that remains intact even when the political rumblings reached Lahore. However, even Ayah’s allure and sensuousness cannot keep the circle intact. In fact, the friends she trusted become her assaulters in the end. This also shows the deterioration of the characters.

We see that there is deterioration of relationships among friends. The relations of the Sikhs of Pir Pindo, the relations between the Ayah’s circle. Their differences which were earlier insignificant but now are highly pronounced.

Communal DiscordThe novel aptly traces the pattern of communal discord

that occurred at the time of Partition from somewhat complete harmony to total frenzy and chaos.

Lenny’s nightmares, especially at the crack of dawn set a gory and gruesome pattern of communal discord at the time of partition.

We see a pattern of communal harmony when Lenny first goes to Dera Tek Singh and sees the Muslims and the Sikhs sitting together and sharing their concern over the existing situation. We even see them vowing to protect each other, should violence reach their villages. However, during her 2nd visit we see suspicion and animosity in the air.

The rumblings of communal discord reach Lahore.e.g the dinner with the singhs and the Rogers.

The verbal skirmishes between Ayah’s admirers show the depth of the discord.

Dilemma of the Parsi communityICM is seen through the prism of Parsi sensitivity.

The beginning shows the non-committal attitude of the Parsis towards the event of Partition.

The novel shows the dilemma & choice of the community. Their leader in Lahore says “ whom do we cast our lot with?”

It is decided that in keeping with the tradition the parsees of Lahore would follow whoever so became the ruler of Lahore. Thus the famous Parsi saying ‘ hunt with the hounds and run with the hare’

They decide to be neutral.The novel also highlights the changing attitude of

the Parsi community. They become the harbigers of peace and reconciliation.

FeminismThe novel has a feminine perspective. The female protagonists are the

moral centers, while most of the male characters either remain apathetic or indulge in destructive violence.

The novel holds a gynocentric view of reality. ICM subtly subverts the elements of patriarchy by showing that the female characters pulsate with a will of their own. The feminine qualities of compassion and motherhood are dominant.

Women are shown as being oppressed and used as a commodity. They are the ones who have to bear the brunt of the wrong doings done by the men. Revenge is taken by violating the rights of women. (element of Universality)

The Ayah is a flame of sensuousness and female vitality.The relationship with the cousin upholds the principle of equality.Godmother towers as a vibrant figure. She is a source of strength and

comfort for the needy e.g after Lenny’s operation, & her role in saving Ayah

Lenny’s mother starts the healing process by shrugging off her passivityThe fallen women are the victims and Lenny’s female relatives are

saviours.We see women as sacrificing their lives for the honour of their families.

Constancy of Desire The theme of lust and desire is present through out

the novel in the persona of Dilnawaz or Ice Candy Man.

Just like the other moths he also hovers around Shanti.Even though she is Hindu and he a Muslim.His desire and the ways of getting hold of Shanti throw

light at his selfish character and seem immoral especially because he is married. His own wife is kept within the boundaries of his village.

ICM keeps on changing his professions but his persuit of Ayah is constant.

He doesn’t mind bringing unhappiness and disgrace to Ayah.

‘the pitiless face of love’ –ICM has no pity for Ayah.

The Eternal conflict between good & evilMoral good and evil are in eternal conflict in the

human psyche.External events serve to unleash the evil inside men if

they sway towards that side, just as they may bring positivity if men are good themselves.

ICM’s desire is constant but lack of restraint and inherently good qualities unleash the beast inside him when he witnesses the arrival of the death train from Gurdaspur.

The description of Ranna’s village shows the animalistic characteristics of men. In the same way ICM, blinded by religious hatred and revenge turns into a cruel man who derives sadistic pleasure and satisfaction in killing Hindus and Sikhs.

As opposed to him we see Masseur trying talk sense into his friends. He holds an objective view, just like the ladies of Lenny’s family.

NeutralityThe author adopts a neutral and objective tone

that helps in highlighting the theme of neutrality.We see that the common man is neutral but he is

swayed by religious and political differences.The Parsi community remains neutral and we see

Lenny’s aunt and mother helping all their friends.The Masseur also holds an objective view and

many times diffuses tensions inside the group.This signifies that had there been no neutral and

objective people then there would have been complete chaos.

Manipulation & BetrayalThe transformations and transmogrifications of

ICM signify his manipulative nature.He tries to lure in people, just as he lures Lenny to

tell him about the whereabouts of the Ayah.His character represents the manipulative and cold

nature of politicians, especially his role as a pimp.Manipulation gives rise to betrayal: Ayah is

betrayed by all whom she trusted, ICM, the butcher and even Lenny– though unconsciously.

We also see manipulation by the leaders and the politicians especially the Hindus. Manipulation gets them their desired states, thus betraying the Muslims.

Religious intolerance ‘ one man’s religion is another man’s

poison’—this is exactly what happens in the text.As the Partition progresses, we see religious frenzy

and hatred. Even the people who throng the Queens Park sit with people of their own faith and show intolerance towards other religions.

There is zero tolerance as religion is used as a tool to carve out the divisions.

Even the Ayah’s group collapses when religious differences stare the members in the face.

Many people changed their religions to combat the hatred and the violence. Hari became Himat Ali.

Impassivity Initially we see the impassivity of the Parsees, but it

was shrugged off by many of them. This is also highlighted when she doesn’t feel any pain when she was being dismembered in her dream.

The impassive and nonchalant attitude of the politicians is highlighted in the text. The power hungry politicians don’t care for the common man.

We also witness the impassivity of the British government and then the independent governments of the two new nations.

‘ it’s strange the English Sarkar can’t seem to be doing anything” “ I don’t think it is because they can’t,I think it is because the Sarkar doesn’t want to.”

Lenny’s dreams also signify the lack of concern by the authorities to check the barbarism at the time of Partition.

Duplicity of ColonialismBy showing the relationship between

Godmother and Slave Sister Sidhwa conveys or warns that the exploitation manipulation and suppression of one individual by another is not confined to a male-female relationship, it can exist between a female-female relation ship.

Feminists are being made aware of the dangers replicating the patriarchal principles.

Even though Godmother is a beacon of courage, strength and hope, we see her misusing her powers.

Chaos and ConfusionChaos, confusion, and mayhem become the order of the day

when men throw way sense and logic. This chaos comes with a very heavy price.

We learn that all passions whether religious or amorous are capable of bringing out the best and the worst in human beings. Religious hatred led to communal violence.

The Process of HealingAmidst this chaos and confusion we see hope in the persons of

the Sethi women. They start the healing process by reaching out to those who were abandoned for no fault of their own.

When ICM realizes that he will never be able to get Ayah’s love, he also starts on the path to moral good. This is where the novel ends.

Sidhwa ends by initiating the healing process and points out that the only way to heal wounds is to overcome them by forgiving and reaching out to others who may have gone through worse.

ConclusionThus we see that the harrowing event of the

Partition brought dislocation, disintegration, chaos with itself.

The novel written in the present tense, deals with these events from a domestic standpoint, creating a realistic picture with a strong element of universality.

Central to the novel are the themes of migration, manipulation, feminism, and submitting your soul to external events.